Young, funny, educated, a visible minority and a Muslim, Naheed Nenshi is basking in his unexpected election victory.

Newly elected mayor of Calgary Naheed Nenshi holds a local paper declaring him mayor of Calgary, Alta., a day after being elected. (Oct. 19, 2010)

By:Bill GravelandThe Canadian Press, Published on Tue Oct 19 2010

CALGARY—Cowtown has a new mayor.

He’s young, funny, educated, a visible minority and a Muslim.

Naheed Nenshi was still basking Tuesday in his somewhat unexpected election victory the night before.

And while much was being made of Nenshi being what’s believed to be the first Muslim mayor in a major Canadian city, experts, supporters and even leaders in Calgary’s Muslim community were playing down the role Nenshi’s faith played in his election.

“I think it’s an overblown situation,” said Calgary Imam Syed Soharwardy, the founder of the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada.

“He’s a Muslim. Yes, well so what? Why does it have to be identified that we have a Muslim mayor? I think the most important thing is we have a new person who has been elected by Calgarians.”

“This sends a very strong message to our country. Calgary is the first major city in North America who has a visible minority mayor, an immigrant son,” he said.

“I think it shows we are not a redneck city. It shows that we are not biased, that we are not just Christian, we are multi-faith and everyone has an equal opportunity.”

The issue of religion did not really enter into the campaign debate which pitted Nenshi, a 38-year-old business professor who harnessed the power of social networking, against the perceived front runners — established alderman Ric McIver and former TV news anchor Barb Higgins.

When asked to confirm that Nenshi was Muslim, one of his supporters replied, “Barely,” at his victory party on Monday night.

David Taras, a political scientist from Mount Royal University in Calgary, said Nenshi benefitted from a split in the conservative vote between McIver and Higgins

“I think Nenshi had the oxygen that he needed to get attention and to get volunteers,” said Taras.

“He’s a brilliant campaigner. He’s a great speaker, has a really great handle on issues. He was able to reach people in terms of their imagination and he was able to seize the moment with the right message. I think it shows in fact that the city is a lot younger and more progressive and more global than a lot of people give Calgary credit for.

“I think Calgary is in fact the third city in Canada in terms of ethnic diversity. A lot of people may have that sort of Stampede, old cowboy image of the city, but walk on the streets and you see a global city.”

Congratulations flowed in Tuesday for Nenshi, but not everyone was happy.

Kyle Fawcett, the Tory member of the legislature for Calgary North Hill, sent a tweet Monday night that said the election of Nenshi in the municipal vote was “a big mistake.” He said Nenshi wasn’t one of the top five candidates in the race that included about a dozen entrants.

Tory Premier Ed Stelmach rebuked Fawcett, saying the will of voters must be respected. He said he was sure Fawcett is “remorseful” for the tweets.

Nenshi, a professor at Mount Royal University, holds a bachelor of commerce degree with distinction from the University of Calgary, where he was president of the students’ union.

He also holds a Masters in public policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, where he studied as a Kennedy Fellow.

His parents, Noorjah and Kurban, immigrated to Canada from Tanzania.

During the campaign, Nenshi put out an Internet video that mocked how people struggled to pronounce his name, but he paid tribute to his parents in his victory speech Monday night.

“They were 30 when they moved to this country. She was pregnant with me. They didn’t have a thing,” he said.

“I betcha they never imagined that their loud-mouthed kid would end up standing here today. But if it wasn’t for the values they instilled in my sister and me, we wouldn’t be here today.”

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